Denver Nuggets forward Mason Plumlee, right, blocks the ball against New Orleans Pelicans forward Julius Randle (30) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018.

NEW ORLEANS – The Nuggets dug themselves a hole too deep, and their self-inflicted mistakes did them in.

Whether it was effort-related or sloppy defense, the Nuggets couldn’t contend with the combination of Anthony Davis and Julius Randle, and they lost 125-115. They’re now 10-6 this season and 3-3 on the road.

Davis had a field day inside the paint, finishing with a game-high 40 points, including 20-of-21 from the free-throw line. Randle had 21 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. The Pelicans, coming off a huge comeback win Friday night over New York, had a 31-8 advantage from the free-throw line.

“I’ll have to go back and watch (the film),” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “I thought we were doing things that should’ve generated some more free throws. Obviously the referees didn’t see it that way tonight, and they saw them getting fouled quite a bit.”

Despite the disparity, Malone didn’t want to take away from Davis’ night.

“He’s an incredible player,” Malone said. “Obviously he gets to the foul line 21 times. Once again, I’ll have to go back and watch the film to see about all those foul calls that he received. But he’s an MVP candidate for a reason.”

Gary Harris and Nikola Jokic were the Nuggets’ best offensive threats on a night when the offense was forced to play from behind. Harris had 24 points on 6-of-9 3-pointers, and Jokic had 25 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, but didn’t have a huge second half impact as the Pelicans pulled away.

“It was a shootout,” Malone said. “Neither team played defense. … Early on, I almost felt like we were scoring so easy that we felt like, ‘Hey, we’re just going to be able to outscore this team and rely on our offense all night long.’ That can’t be.”

Malone was most frustrated with the Pelicans’ second-chance points (23) and their fastbreak points (20), two categories that denote effort.

The Pelicans stretched the lead to as many as 13 points in the third quarter while the Nuggets’ defense continued to flounder. Randle had two huge dunks, and the Nuggets didn’t have an offensive answer until early in the fourth quarter when they cut it to seven off a Malik Beasley dunk.

Jamal Murray was back in the starting lineup after coming off the bench Thursday as a result of a small team violation. Though the Nuggets’ offense pounded the Hawks, Malone said he gave no thought to starting Monte Morris for a second consecutive game.

“Jamal is a huge part of our future, and we’re going to help him get through his early-season struggles, get back to being the player that we all know he’s capable of,” Malone said.

Murray finished with 11 points and six assists while Morris was solid again with 13 points and five assists off the bench.

It was an uninspiring defensive effort in the first half from the Nuggets, who entered Saturday with the third-ranked defense in the NBA. They trailed 70-67 heading into the third quarter after allowing the Pelicans to shoot 58 percent in the first half. Four players had double-digit scoring, led by Davis’ 22, and the Pelicans were 21-for-24 from the free-throw line compared to the Nuggets, who had just five free-throw attempts. Many were undisciplined fouls as the Nuggets bit on unconvincing fakes.

The Nuggets’ 3-point shooting, which has slowly started to come around, kept it close. Harris buried three 3-pointers and Juan Hernangomez knocked down two on good looks.

Jokic was dominant with 18 points in the first quarter. He found his shots within the flow of the offense and set the tone from the outset with an inside and outside presence. The Nuggets appeared to dodge an injury when Jokic slipped along the baseline and walked back to the bench gingerly. Jokic said the injury didn’t affect him throughout the rest of the game.

Davis largely matched his frontcourt opponent, though he did most of his damage from close range.

Mike Singer is the Denver Nuggets beat writer for The Denver Post. A Cleveland native, he is also the former NBA editor at USA TODAY. He previously covered the Chicago Bulls for CSNChicago.com and worked at CBSSports.com.

Tim Connelly was effusive in his praise of the Washington Wizards organization, but if you parse his words closely at Tuesday’s end-of-the-year news conference, the Baltimore native didn’t sound like he was ever too close to leaving Denver.